Fully rested, Tom Glavine had the St. Louis Cardinals right where he wanted them.

Unless the Mets can rally, he'll have all winter to rest.

The Mets gave Glavine an early two-run lead after he extended his scoreless streak to 16 innings in the post-season.

And then, all so quickly, it all came undone, and New York moved within a loss of elimination with a 4-2 defeat Tuesday night in Game 5 of the NL championship series.

St. Louis headed to New York ahead 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and faces John Maine in Game 6 Wednesday night and TBA in Game 7 _ if it even gets that far. After piecing together a win behind Oliver Perez in Game 5, the Mets couldn't get a victory behind their ace.

Glavine, a 10-time All-Star and 290-game winner, had been prepared to pitch on three days' rest Monday night before rain pushed the game back a day.

``As much a big deal as we make about numbers in this game, my numbers certainly aren't great on short rest, so psychologically, maybe all those things are good,'' the 40-year-old lefty had said.

Seeking to tie former Atlanta teammate John Smoltz for the post-season wins record at 15, he was given a lead when Jose Valentin doubled off the left-field line in the fourth, driving in two runs.

Glavine started with three scoreless innings but allowed Albert Pujols' first homer of the series on a fat 2-2 pitch with one out in the bottom of the fourth.

Glavine got himself into more trouble with a two-out, four-pitch walk to Scott Rolen. He fell behind Jim Edmonds 3-1, gave up a single and Ronnie Belliard poked the next pitch into right for a tying single.

Eventually, Glavine got out of a bases-loaded jam when pitcher Jeff Weaver hit into a forceout, but David Eckstein blooped a single on the first pitch of the fifth and ex-Met Preston Wilson doubled two pitches later to put St. Louis ahead 3-2.

That was pretty much it. The Mets left him in to intentionally walk Pujols, then took him out.

There's no Pedro Martinez. There's no Orlando Hernandez.

For Glavine, the only chance to get back to the World Series this year is if the rest of the Mets cobble together wins. Perhaps if there's a Game 7, he'll pitch in relief.